Dragon's Dismay withy Absent Family

Chapter 10

Artemis eyes' stayed wide as she looked upon the former king of Phantom lord. Like a rush of water all of the tragedies and the horrible memories that Jose left her with flooded back into her mind. The dark damp and cold cell that he had locked her away in and the fire that crumbled Pyre, Natsu's home, and that was still in the midst of repairing some of its building's and other things. The guilt that ate her back then when that kingdom burned down suddenly came down and she gasped as if it were a physical object piercing her chest, straight through her beating heart. Jose walked forward and it took Artemis a second before she flew to her feet and pressed Peyton and Rio to the wall behind her as if just hiding them behind her being wasn't enough. Just the presence of this man made her wish that these two weren't with her right now seeing him. Jose had caused her, Natsu, Sting, and many other people enough pain and she wasn't about to let her daughter nor her niece get caught up with him. How Artemis could only now feel for Gajeel who had to put up with this man for so many years after his father disappeared.

"It's been far too long Miss. Elise, oh I'm sorry or should I say Mrs. Eucliffe." Jose's lips curled up into a gruesome smile that made a chill run down Artemis's spine.

"I forgot . . . I forgot you had gotten out of your rotten cell after Rogue had put you in there." Artemis whispered taking a gulp.

"Well you see a king deserves better conditions than that."

"You're no king! Gajeel's already taken your place and someone like you doesn't deserve such a title after what you did to all of us. I'm surprised these guys would have such nerve to help someone like you." The brunette spat at him.

"Why you-!"

Jose held his hand up to stop Azazel from speaking any further. Artemis's eyes scanned each man behind Jose but when she landed on Xander her gaze softened to let him know that what she has just said had nothing to do with him. He gave a faint nod in return something only Artemis was able to catch. She could feel Peyton's grip on herders tighten while Rio's hands shook and Artemis due to her slightly inherited dragon hearing could hear the tiny whispers from her rave haired niece as she kept whispering for her mother or father to come and save her. How she truly felt for the little one and how Peyton had her and Rio didn't have any of her parent's here to help her.

"There is no need to start anything. Besides I really don't care about that brute taking my throne let him have it. I'll just replace someone else, maybe a certain blonde and raven haired one and just run that whole kingdom myself-"

"Sting and Rogue would die for that kingdom before letting you even lay eyes on their thrones!" Artemis snapped earning a stinging slap a crossed her face from the man in front of her.

"Some nerve for a prisoner to speak such a way to their buyer. You know I'm starting to rethink my ideas about what to do with you, of course your precious daughter will still become a sickly maid while your niece will become a part of the afterlife when we take her eyes but you, I'm sure we can spare YOU under one condition that is. Once I become the king of your kingdom you can remarry me and become my queen." Jose hummed amused by his own thought.

"As if I'd even think about something as revolting as that! Marry a beast like you? You would be dead on the floor as soon as Sting found out you even laid a finger on me. Plus I would rather rot away in that cell you shoved me into so many years ago then marry you."

The smile on Jose's face fell immediately and he reached forward gripping Artemis's arm pulling her closer to him. The Sabertooth Queen struggled to break free as she was dragged from the cell after him. Peyton and Rio ran towards her crying but Ryu and Azazel had already picked them up and slugged them over their shoulders. Panic suddenly coursed through Artemis's veins as she began to worry about the two little ones. Such a stupid thing to do on her part and get Jose angry. Of course it would only lead to her getting separated from them and that was something she had been trying to avoid.

"Mommy! Let Mommy go!" Peyton shouted, tears slipping from the beautiful green jeweled eyes she inherited from her mother.

"Auntie Artemis!"

The brunette struggled as every fiber in her being tried to break free from Jose to get to her little girl and her cousin's little girl. She was dragged back out into the main room of the little hideout as Jose's underlings carried the little girls out behind them. A cold rush of air hit her making chills run over Artemis's skin while goose bumps formed. She couldn't hear Jose's instructions over the crying of Peyton and Rio but she knew that they weren't good as she watched the two little one's get thrown into the carriage Jose had arrived in or so she assumed. Her green hues flicked over to Xander for desperate help and the dark blue haired man nodded swiftly and quickly understanding and letting her know that he would do something to stop them as soon as he could. She could see Peyton and Rio trying to squirm their way out of the carriage but it seemed to have annoyed Ryu too much since he had decid3ed to electrocute the two like he did the first time he stuffed them into a carriage.

"No! Stop that! Don't hurt them please!" Artemis begged giving Jose a struggle to pull her away from the carriage.

Ryu grinned at her sadistically before raising her hand again. She was grateful that Xander had stepped in and grabbed his hand before the two little ones had been shocked again; it was bad enough he had already made them pass out. She could hear Xander coming up with some excuse as to why he stopped them but it only earned a grunt from Ryu. Azazel turned and followed Jose and Artemis out into the woods wherever they were dragging her off too. She gave Xander one last pleading look before he was completely out of her sight. It was dark out, probably a different night since it definitely didn't seem like just a few hours that she was stuck in there. They didn't take her far before Jose threw her down to ground and she fell with her cheek bashed against the dirt. Slowly she looked up and could see the moonlight gleaming against one of Azazel's knives. She remembered Ryu saying something about him liking to use things for target practice so she assumed that instead of being a magic user he was well talented with knives and daggers instead. Jose snatched the knife from Azazel's hand and stalked towards Artemis with it.

"Boss what are you doing I thought we were going to sell her too?" The tattooed man asked taking a step forward.

"I change my mind the kids will be enough especially the one with the ruby eyes. With how much those are wanted on the black market right now it should be enough to repay what were losing with her anyway. I'm sure your little cousin would love to hear what's going to happen to her little girl right? Serves her right for being so troublesome as a worthless maid back at my kingdom all those years ago, but don't worry you can tell her that her daughter went quickly and painless, well that is if you ever get back there." Jose hissed in her face as he drug her closer by the collar of her dress.

"Rogue will have your head if you hurt his little girl! He'll make sure your punishment is worse this time when he gets you!" Artemis snapped.

"Well that's if he can find me anyway, but they'll have to find your body dumped out here first my dear. I never got a chance to end you the way I wanted to all those years ago thanks to that blue haired brat that got in my way so I think I'll just take the pleasure in letting you bleed out here!"

Artemis gasped and looked down where there was a sharp pain coming from her side. There Jose had stuck Azazel's knife into her side and the internal crimson liquid seeped out instantly staining her dress. Jose didn't even have the decency to pull the weapon out from her side after she collapsed onto the floor. He backed away and smiled cruelly down at her as she gritted her teeth from the searing pain. Azazel went to go retrieve his weapon but Jose told him to leave it and that he could buy a new one after they gained their money from the little ones. Artemis glowered up at them and watched them walk off. Slowly she reached down and pulled the knife from her side by herself but of course she still didn't have enough energy to use her magic to heal herself. A groan pressed past her lips from the pain again as more of the red liquid spilled out onto her dress and dripped down onto the ground staining the dirt as well.

"Damn . . . help me . . . Sting . . ."

*Sting's P.O.V.*

The blonde was exhausted and he had only been hanging around the castle since he woke up from his black out. He was becoming irritated waiting for Rogue and he was about ready to get up and leave again to go look for his wife and daughter. He sighed; nothing seemed to keep him busy. He had tried cooking himself something when the castle chef went out for his break and of course that started a mini uproar with Orga who had to go and tell Totomaru he had left his room. Thank god for Rufus fixing his advisor's mistakes. Then there was the incident where Celestine was almost just kidnapped . . . again. He had just finished taking the two guys Totomaru asked him to take and brought them to their third man that the blonde had caught outside when he jumped from the window with Celestine hung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He was lucky enough to have been strolling past her window at the time it happened to catch the kidnapper. Sadly enough that only made him wonder why he couldn't have been there like that when his wife and daughter had been taken from him. He inhaled sharply and shut his eyes closed tightly. He couldn't think that now he had to focus on finding them wherever they were and getting them back to their home here in the castle.

"Damn. . ." he muttered standing from his and Artemis's bed.

He was growing bored waiting here for so long. Even Totomaru was doing more than him at the moment and that was pissing him off greatly. He made his way over to his wife's vanity and picked up the picture frame sitting there in front of the mirror. His thumb brushed over the faces of Artemis and Peyton who sat beside him in the photo. It was one that Yukino had taken one day after his daughter's privet lesson. He smiled faintly and then looked down at the remaining photos of Artemis and Peyton sitting on the vanity in which he wasn't in. This he frowned at and clutched the picture that was in his hand before raging and throwing it at the already broken mirror shattering it more and then cracking the picture frame with it. He reached up and pulled at his hair yelling angrily at himself while his good hearing picked up footsteps rushing down the hall. His door flew open as Rufus and Totomaru came running in to find the distraught king trying to control his anger once again.

"Sting . . ." Totomaru grumbled while eyeing the broken pieces of glass on the floor that the maids had just finished cleaning not too long ago.

"Your highness it'd be best if you didn't make such a racket like that. You'll make some of the servants think that someone is breaking in again." Rufus sighed.

Sting just glanced over at them before flopping back down onto his bed again. He looked out the window a crossed the room and frowned at the moon. How long had it'd been anyway since Artemis and Peyton had been taken from him and Rio had been Taken from Rogue and Celestine? What was it, two days? Oh what did it matter what mattered was that they were still missing and instead of finding them he was sitting here on his bum doing absolutely nothing! Rufus walked over and proceeded to pick up the pieces of glass on the floor before fixing the frame that had been on Artemis's vanity. He heard another pair of footsteps advancing towards his room, they weren't running in a panic though just simply walking and they stopped right in his doorway.

"You can't stay out of trouble for only a few hours while I'm gone can you?"

Sting blinked and looked over at his 'brother' who stood in the doorway now returned from his trip to PhantomLord. The blonde frowned and shrugged letting out a puff of air before standing up. Now that Rogue was back he could finally go and continue searching for his wife and daughter. Unfortunately he'd have to light his own way down the path he had marked the trees on since it was dark which meant a depletion of magic energy before he bumped into his wife's kidnappers.

"Whatever, did Gajeel manage to help you at all?" Sting asked changing the topic of conversation.

"Yes and no I suppose. The bracelet you found that was sent to me was the biggest help really. They found one lead but nothing major came up. Gajeel told me to come back and check on you since we heard you past out. He'll send over information when it turns up." The shadow king answered in possibly the longest sentence to ever come out of his mouth.

"We'll that gets us nowhere. I have to go anyway I think I found the path they were on. I promised your wife's advisor I'd wait for your return before leaving again and I've been getting antsy just sitting here doing nothing to help my wife and daughter." The blonde grumbled earning an eye roll for the fire mage behind him.

Sting brushed past the Shadow King and walked out of his room with Rogue in tow. The raven haired male followed Sting to the back doors of the castle before walking out into the cold night air. It was just light enough for sting to see where the entry way was to where he needed to be going but as soon as they were far enough in sting had to emit light from his skin so that they could see where they were walking. Totomaru and Rufus had watched them leave but of course stayed at the castle, though it was a surprise to them that Rogue never took a moment to check on Celestine, then again it'd be best to not let him know that his wife had almost been kidnapped again at this point in time.

"Where are we even going?" Rogue asked.

"I marked the trees when I ran back to the castle to give the bracelet to Totomaru. I was going to go back but that's when I passed out." Sting explained as he scanned the trees around him for the dents he left.

Rogue gave a simple nod at the explanation. Walking further down the path the 'Brothers' came a crossed the part where the path split off. Sting walked off to the one on the right and began making his way down. Sting paused for only a few moments as Rogue looked down at an empty spot in the dirt. Sting knew that it was the same spot the bracelet had been in but it was strange how Rogue was able to pinpoint exactly where it was when there was nothing there to indicate the bracelet's resting place. The blonde grew irritable after walking for some time, the path almost seeming as if it were leading them nowhere. He tried telling himself that it was just too dark for him to see if they were actually getting anywhere; he wasn't emitting that much light anyway for if he did he was sure he would have felt tired already.

"Are you sure this is the right way Sting?" The shadow dragon mused leaning up against something shrouded in vines.

"Yeah Rogue I'm sure. Rio's bracelet was down this path." Sting grumbled.

Sting let the light around him fade before he walked over and leaned against whatever Rogue had been leaning against as well except he jolted forward when it shifted behind him. Quickly lighting himself back up he realized he had been leaning against a doorway that had been carved out for the wooden door to fit there. Sting cracked it open to find torches lighting the way to an open space that made it seem as if someone or a few people lived here.

"Sting Over here!"

The blonde followed Rogue to a back room where a single cell room sat. Sting's eyes widened as he could smell nothing but Artemis and Peyton filling this room. It was strong too so he could only assume that they had been only recently removed from this cell. He could tell that Rio had been here as well which was why Rogue was seemed a little off, a little too angry for Sting's liking. Nothing seemed off about the cell at least but even if it didn't show any signs of violence he still couldn't be sure what happened to his little girl and his wife in here as well as Rogue's little girl. Sting turned and walked away from the cell. It wasn't like it had much information to offer anyway but he was glad to at least have the scent of his wife and daughter to track again. He and Rogue rummaged through the rooms of the little hideout but didn't find anything of much value to them or finding their family. Walking back outside still empty handed to an extent Sting could now smell that Peyton had been out here but her scent seemed to have faded off rather quickly.

"Damn. . ." He muttered.

"Sting don't you smell that?"

"What the smell of our daughters fading quickly and not being picked up again, yeah sure."

"Stop that, I meant the blood you idiot." Rogue grumbled.

"Blood?"

It was faint but Sting quickly picked it up. He quickly brushed past Rogue and followed it through the bushes as he and Rogue maneuvered under branches. The smell of the crimson liquid became stronger and Sting scrunched his nose in disgust. He only made it a little farther before he paused for a moment and then picked up the pace, his nose picking up another scent merged with the scent of the blood. His heart beat hard against his ribcage and he could hear Rogue stumbling slightly to keep up with him. Finally coming to a small clearing, a rather very small clearing, he froze looking down at the blood trail seeping into the dirt from his feet and followed it up to the body it was coming from. Slowly his eyes locked with chestnut hair and emerald eyes that were dull and half-lidded as if she were about to pass out. Sting quickly bolted forward stumbling over his feet as panic rose within him.

"ARTEMIS!"